Flicker
by Ikana Knight
Summary: Naruto's last minute graduation throws the team assigning for a bit of a loop. Thankfully an old pervert of a sage makes an unannounced visit to offer a solution. Hopefully he can whip the boy into shape for the troubles ahead.


**I haven't the slightest idea what I'm doing! :D**

* * *

Another day, another chance at a headache. After the fiasco with Mizuki, Hiruzen had gone to bed hoping that any loose ends would tie themselves up nicely. A good read of the list of fresh graduates revealed that may not be the case.

With Naruto's graduation added to the mix, all the genin could no longer be divided evenly into three-man teams. Normally this could be easily fixed: read the files of each student and all the notes their teachers wrote on them during their academy days, select the two most promising students and then find them someone who would willing to take them on as apprentices.

The problem was that he wanted both of this year's most promising students to be on the same team.

Sasuke was a talented boy. Not the genius his brother was, but still someone who could one day stand among the best. Finding someone willing to be his teacher wasn't a problem. The problem was the dangerous signs Sasuke was developing. The boy's increasing obsession with revenge was liable to drive him insane and away from the village. The aging Hokage owed it to Itachi to keep the 'Last Uchiha' rooted to the village and his sanity. And for that he needed to be on a team to form strong bonds.

And then there was Naruto. While most jōnin would be fine taking a team with Naruto in it, most would be hesitant take him as an apprentice. Which suited Hiruzen just fine; many of them would see him at face-value: the dead last. Only a select few would see past the poor grades and loud mouth mask. Naruto had so much potential; he just needed someone to bring it out.

Unfortunately, almost all who could bring out the best in the boy were unavailable: out of the village indefinitely or already preoccupied with other duties. Or dead. It left him only one suitable teacher.

Ideally, the Hokage could just force Kakashi to take a team. Naruto's strong desire for companionship could get Sasuke to open up and develop a friendship with him and then hopefully others as well. Under Kakashi's guidance, Sasuke would learn that true strength came from protecting that which was still dear to him rather than avenging what he had already lost and Naruto's potential could be brought out to its fullest. Students that so closely resembled his original team could be what Kakashi need to be taken out of his depression.

_Or drive him even deeper,_

He took a puff from his pipe.

_Better think over that third teammate carefully._

So the usual suspects were out. Finding another potential apprentice shouldn't too difficult right? Going over the papers told him no, it would.

Hyuga Hinata was shot down immediately. Her father was very adamant about wanting her to be on a carefully selected team. He had said that no matter how much her skills improved, it would mean nothing if she held no confidence. She needed teammates that would not shy away from criticizing her yet still encourage her, something her father often found himself unable to do.

The Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka were out of the question. He had already convinced Asuma to train the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho.

That left him a handful of graduates. All of whom were civilian-born.

"That's a headache for another day," Hiruzen said aloud.

"What's got you so down sensei?"

Hiruzen turned around to see Jiraiya sitting in the open window. He always had a gift for approaching others unnoticed.

"Assigning the new geninteams. It's a lot more difficult this year than it should be. Tell me, what brings you here? You usually don't show up unless it's important,"

"I figured a certain someone would graduate this year," Jiraiya said as he gazed toward the Hokage Monument. "Well, did he?"

"A bit unconventionally, but yes he did,"

Jiraiya smiled. "In that case let me make a simple request."

Hiruzen let out a sigh. Perhaps not ideal, but this should work just as well.

* * *

The elite shinobi and academy teachers of the Hidden Leaf gathered in the room to be given their new teams. And then promptly fail most of them. As fun as breaking the hearts of young children was, after a few years one begins to wonder why pass so many kids if most are doomed to be sent back. Why not just increase the difficulty of the graduation test to weed out the unworthy.

Everyone was cut out of their thoughts as the Hokage finally to speak.

"Thank you all for coming today," he paused and gave a certain someone a dry look. "And on time. As you should all already know, we have a new batch of academy graduates that will need their final evaluations. So today, I will be assigning you all a team." He read off the teams and their jōnin sensei. "Team 7 shall consist of Fujiiro Ame, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke under Hatake Kakashi." He continued on with the rest.

After he finished, they were dismissed. All but two had left.

"Iruka, Kakashi, I take you both have a question?"

"Yes Lord Hokage. I noticed you didn't mention Naruto in the team listings. Did something happen?"

"I'm a bit curious as well," Kakashi tried to pull up a mask of indifference. "The original plan was to place him under me. What changed?"

"I had an unexpected visit from someone willing to take Naruto under his wing. Someone who wishes to stay anonymous for the time being."

"So you can't tell me anything about him?" Iruka had worry written all over his face.

"Rest assured Iruka, Naruto will be in the safest hands, although I will say his new master does a lot of traveling for the village, so you may not see him for long stretches of time." Said Hiruzen.

Kakashi seemed to connect the dots and looked satisfied.

"Well my curiosity is quenched. If you'd excuse me Lord Hokage." Kakashi patted Iruka on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"As is mine. Thank you for your time Lord Hokage."

* * *

The Copy Ninja walked aimlessly through the village holding his new orange book. To the casual observer, he was reading porn. The truth however is that he was lost in his thoughts.

"You seem so uninterested. Don't tell me I'm losing my touch already."

Kakashi turned around to see the Toad Sage.

"Oh, Jiraiya-sama. No, the book is shaping up to be a classic. It's just…" Kakashi looked over to the Hokage Monument. "just lost in thought."

Jiraiya chuckled. "You're not too upset about me swiping the kid are ya?"

"No no," Kakashi sighed. "It's probably for the best. Still not sure why Lord Hokage seems to see teacher material in me."

"So who are poor saps you're failing this time?"

"The Uchiha and a pair of girls. And I'm not failing them this time. I think they want me to look after boy and make sure he doesn't go crazy. That or the sharingan thing."

"Is that so?" He thought for a moment. "Follow me."

Jiraiya led him to a secluded spot, away from an ears that may accidently overhear the sensitive information. Leaning against a rail, he made one final check.

"While keeping tabs on Orochimaru I found out he joined some group called Akatsuki. They're a slippery little gang of trouble makers; all these years of snooping and the best my informants can come up with are uniform descriptions, a vague goal, and that they occasionally do dirty work for various hidden villages."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "And this vague goal is?"

"The tailed beasts. For what, I'm not sure."

"And if they're after the bijū, they're after those who house them by proxy." Jiraiya nodded solemnly. "Great, a group of lunatics like Orochimaru are after sensei's son."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, it seems that snake was chased out of the Akatsuki. By a certain red eyed rogue from our very own village, if my information is accurate."

Kakashi thought for a moment before responding, "No, that doesn't help. At all."

"Don't worry! If anyone's stupid enough to go after my godson, I'll make sure they know pain." He patted the man on the shoulder and began to walk away. "Stay on the lookout for red clouds on black robes."

Kakashi only nodded.

* * *

Naruto tossed and turned in his bed. The day's events kept flashing in the back of his mind. As much as he enjoyed helping out Konohamaru he could have gone without that jerk Ebisu staring him down.

That goddamn stare! He wasn't sure which he hated more: People trying to look past him, pretending he didn't exist or that god forsaken look of contempt; the acknowledgement that he was there and that by existing he had somehow wronged them.

That first was easy to deal with. If the village wouldn't willing acknowledge him, Naruto would force them. That what the pranks were for, why he dreamed of being Hokage, why he wore the brightest, most obnoxious shade of orange he could get his hands on. People would see him, even if was as the village idiot.

But the contempt? The best he could do was ignore it. And that was difficult to do when he was staring the man in the eye.

Made him wonder why they didn't just hit him.

_Guess I'm just not worth the effort_

Naruto looked out the window. The sun was back up; another sleepless night. With a sigh he got out of bed and headed toward his bathroom. A warm shower always helped after a restless night.

Finishing up, he went straight to his radio and turned it on. He couldn't for the love him remember when he got it, but it sure was a godsend for keeping the silence away. He hated it when it was silent.

_Hell is cold, quiet, and desolate_

Hopefully the knock on the door meant he could avoid it a while longer. Opening the door Naruto put on a smile.

"Iruka-sensei! Why are you here?"

Iruka smiled back at him. "Well since I have the day off, I figured I'd come over and help you review some things over." His tone left no room for argument.

Not that would stop Naruto from trying.

"Oi, I graduated didn't I? Why do I gotta review stuff?"

This made Iruka to give him a questioning look. "Maybe cause you skipped the lessons on what I want you to review?"

"But your lessons were so boring! Maybe if taught something useful like some super cool jutsu I'd pay attention."

Iruka knelt down and said, "Naruto how do you expect to become a good Hokage if you who our allies are or where our enemies lie?" Seeing Naruto try to look away Iruka let out a sigh and ruffled his hair. "You're still a few years off from becoming Hokage so don't worry. Come on, I'll treat you to ramen after we're done."

Naruto sighed in defeat. He couldn't turn down free food. Closing the door behind him, he nodded and followed Iruka. His academy teacher led him across the village to the library near the academy. Looking around Naruto noticed that, aside from the quiet nature of it, he liked the atmosphere the place gave off.

"Naruto," Iruka brought him out of his thoughts. "Go find these books," He was handed a sheet of paper with book titles on them. "I'll get the rest."

And so he set off on a mini-adventure; one that short lived thanks to a nice girl around his age that offered to help him. With the books collected Naruto was about the head back when a particular book caught his attentions. The book was thick and from the look of it, old; not something he would normally read on his own accord. Yet he was drawn to it. He pulled it out and ran his fingertips across the purple engraved words.

_Tales of Tails… Hmm, crappy name_

"Are you interested in the bijū?" asked the girl that had helped him earlier.

"Bijū?"

"Tailed beasts. You know, like the Kyūbi."

Naruto only nodded. If he was going to be stuck with that overgrown fox, maybe this book could help out a bit. He thought for a moment before smirking.

Naruto formed his new favorite hand seal and out popped a shadow clone. He handed out the book to the clone.

"While I'm busy with Iruka-sensei, you read through that book carefully. When you're done head back home and tell me all the important bits. Now get!"

The clone looked at him and then at the book before shrugging and heading off to read. Naruto turned around to meet back with his teacher when he noticed an amused look on the girl.

"You know, you could always just check out the book." She said.

Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I'll think about it."

With that he went back to study with Iruka.

* * *

With the sun setting and his stomach filled with oh so good ramen Naruto waved bye to his old teacher and headed home. All in all the day wasn't that bad: he hung out with Iruka, he met someone who didn't try to avoid like the plague, and he got free ramen. All that he needed to complete the day was for his clone to summarize what it read and to get some actual sleep.

When he arrived to his apartment he was greeted with the sound of a black cat, music from the radio, and a 'sup' from his clone. They went over what the clone had learned from the book. There were nine Tailed Beasts: a tanuki, a cat, a turtle, a monkey, some sort of horse with a dolphin's head, a slug, a beetle, some strange mix of ox and octopus, and the fox. They were all enormous and had an increasing number of tails, starting with the tanuki. Senju Hashirama, the very first Hokage, apparently thought they would be a good way of balancing power among the newly formed hidden villages and handed them out like baskets of wine. Finally, those who were given the burden of being their host were dubbed jinchūriki.

_Don't think I like that word_

He fell into his bed and dispelled the clone. Thinking back, he remembered that he still had yet to read the chapters on the individual beasts. Given he didn't have anything to do until the team assigning, he figured he visit the library more to finish the book. With any luck, that girl would still be willing to talk to him. He enjoyed having company.

* * *

In the furthest reaches of Wind Country, deep beneath searing sands, laid a temple long forgotten by the modern world. Yet despite a millennia having passed without a single soul roaming its halls, the temple shined with all the pristine it had the day it was built. Holy torches lit every hall; their flames eternal. Every inch of the walls painted in sparkling white paint; untouched. A magnificent statue of a white tiger posed as if ready to strike any fool who dared trespass this sacred place.

That is until a giant viper busted into the place.

Said snake coiled up and opened its mouth allowing three men to slip out. Two of them emerged as if it were any other day. The other… not so much.

"Good lord that's disgusting!" The young man tried to wipe the saliva off. "To think I let you talk me into agreeing to that! And then the retur…"

He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the remains of the tiger statue. Horrified, he dropped to his knees and grabbed a piece of the statue in each hand. Tears began to freely flow.

"No," he whispered to himself repeatedly. He then turned to the coiled snake, his eyes filled to the brim with rage. "YOU!" He pointed as menacing as he could, "You sickening, slithering, serpentine SHIT! You ruined a priceless artifact! You…" He continued his complaints against the animal waving his arms about, losing what little intimidation factor he had.

The snake in turn turned to its master with a pleading look in its eyes; as if to ask, 'May I please eat him?'

Orochimaru seemed to keep his patience much better than his summons.

"Now now, surely the uncovering of the tomb is worth the loss of one statue. Would you not agree, Strati-san?"

Ending his rant the archeologist turned to face the sannin and nodded. "I suppose you are correct Orochimaru-sama, I apologize." He bowed. He then bit his lip.

"Sir, if I were to make a request?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "I understand this search for the Sword of Totsuka is very important to you, and that my own desires pale in comparison to yours, but could you be so kind as to allow me some light studying of these amazing works? I would still keep an out for the sword of course, all I ask is some leeway to jot down notes and look over things."

"Be my guest," said Orochimaru, "But first answer me this: What do you seek to gain from this?"

Strati smiled and scratched the back of his head, "As any archeologist worth his salt would say, for the opportunity of a lifetime."

Orochimaru gave his signature laugh and motioned him to take his leave. Grinning even harder, the young man bowed in respect and ran off into one of the halls. He continued on before turning right walking for ten more minutes. He stopped to make sure he wasn't being followed, not that it mattered. Turning left, he ran for minutes, turned right, and ran another ten. Turned to his left once more, smirked, and ran a solid twenty minutes. Turned left one final time and then right.

He savored that last ten minute walk.

Now statues of white tigers lined the hallway. Strati's smile grew haunting as he inched his way closer toward his prize. He counted the tigers as he passed them by before stopping in front of one. It looked identical to all the rest. He mockingly patted the statue on the head; his grin growing even more wicked.

He placed hands on each eye and a strip of sealing paper appeared; bridging the gap between the eyes. A dead language was written on it.

Orochimaru's earlier question buzzed in his head.

_As he would say,_

"To bring the purity of oblivion!"

And so the first seal was broken.

* * *

_**/**_

_**/**_

_**Author's Notes**_

I really should do something more productive.

Don't read Fics too often so I don't no how common the 'Jiraiya train Naruto earlier than canon' fanfics are. Probably a dime a dozen. Oh Well!

Don't feel like following the stations of canon that much. Last section was spice for endgame. If I every get to it.

See you all next chapter, maybe, if you're interested...


End file.
